1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention broadly relates to structural frames. This invention further relates to structural frames which can be employed to stabilize an existing structure. This invention still further relates to a portable jointed frame which can be erected on site to temporarily support an existing structure. This invention more particularly relates to an articulated portable frame and the method of using it to maintain a utility pole in an upright position.
2. Description of the Prior Art and Problems Solved
Electric utility companies, and other entities, erect structures, for example substantially vertical columns of relatively small diameter, such as long wooden poles, to support overhead wire and cable employed to conduct electricity and data. It is known that such wire and cable include power lines, telephone lines, television cable and the like. It is also known that any interruption in the services provided by such wire and cable can result in customer ill will, aggravation and annoyance as well as considerable inconvenience and outright danger to persons and institutions who depend upon and otherwise rely on the services. In short, services provided by power lines and data transmission cable constitute a virtually essential aspect of the conduct of business and the safety and enjoyment of life by persons and other users of the services.
Interruption of power and data transmission services can and does occur on an unplanned and surprise basis. Examples of such interruptions are well known to be caused by natural events, such as storms, floods and fire. Surprise interruptions in service can also be caused by accidents, such as a car wreck wherein a pole is knocked down. Service providers treat unplanned interruptions as an emergency and work diligently to restore service as quickly as possible. Customers and other users have developed, at least, a limited tolerance of unplanned interruptions with the expectation and understanding that efforts are underway to remedy the problem.
In contrast, interruptions which can be foreseen by service providers are not received by customers with the same tolerance as unplanned interruptions. Consequently, service providers exert great efforts to avoid service interruptions which can be foreseen. An upright pole which can fall if soil which supports the pole is removed during a construction operation can be the cause of an interruption in electric service which can be foreseen.
In operations which involve the removal of soil from the vicinity of an upright pole, or from the vicinity of a line of upright utility poles, the possibility of undermining the pole with the result that the pole can fall and cause a service interruption can be foreseen. Such undermining can be caused by digging ditches, excavating roadbeds or similar earth removal activities at points very close to a pole or poles. With the foreseeable service loss in mind, service providers and earth removal entities, to avoid interruption and the adverse consequences of a service loss and the consumer ire that such a loss would cause, temporarily reroute :service lines before excavation begins. Following the completion of construction operations, the original route is restored. The current practice of temporarily rerouting followed by restoring the original route is time consuming and expensive.
There, thus, exists a need of an apparatus and a method of using the apparatus which functions to prevent an upright column, such as an electric utility pole, from falling if removal of soil in the vicinity of the column would undermine the column and cause it to fall. Use of the apparatus, or of a plurality of such devices, would obviate the need to temporarily reroute a line of utility poles to avoid an interruption in service.
By this invention there is provided an apparatus and a method of using the apparatus to support a column, such as an electric utility pole, in an upright position. An electric utility pole is, ideally, plumb. Such a pole may, in fact, have been plumb when first installed in the ground, but a pole, over the passage of time, can lean out of plumb while still remaining in an xe2x80x9cupright position.xe2x80x9d Furthermore, since ground having a pole installed therein is not necessarily horizontal, such a pole installed in the ground, even if plumb at the time of installation, is not necessarily perpendicular to the ground in which it is installed, but is, nevertheless, in an xe2x80x9cupright position.xe2x80x9d Accordingly, for purposes of this invention, the phrase xe2x80x9cupright positionxe2x80x9d means a position occupied by a pole which is not lying on the ground, but which is not necessarily plumb or perpendicular to the ground in which it is installed. It follows, then, that an apparatus whose function it is to support a pole in an xe2x80x9cupright positionxe2x80x9d must operate in environments wherein the pole may lean out of plumb and/or wherein the pole is not perpendicular to the ground in which the pole is installed. The apparatus of this invention is, thus, a frame which is deliberately articulated to enables it to support a pole in an upright position even if the pole is not plumb and/or is not perpendicular to the ground in which the pole is installed.
This invention finds particular utility in the situation wherein a pole installed in ground in the vicinity of earth to be removed may fall if earth essential to the support of the pole is removed. Use of this invention will prevent the pole from falling even if the earth required to support the pole is removed from the vicinity of the pole.
In accordance with the method of this invention, an articulated frame comprised of a pole contacting element, a primary ground contacting element and at least one rigid stiffening element is provided, placed and held against the pole to be supported. The pole contacting element is attached to the primary ground contacting element by a pivot connection and by the rigid stiffening element. In operation, the frame is positioned so that the ground contacting element is placed on earth which will not be removed, and the pole contacting element is placed in contact with the pole and oriented so that the linear axis of the pole contacting element is substantially parallel to the linear axis of the pole. The pole contacting element is then urged and held against the pole to create frictional resistance between the pole and the pole contacting element sufficient to prevent the pole from sliding against the pole contacting element. Thereafter, the ground contacting element and the pole contacting element are connected by the rigid stiffening element to force the ground contacting element against the ground in which the pole is installed to thereby prevent any movement between the ground contacting element and the pole contacting element at the mentioned pivot connection. Thereafter, earth removal may begin.
Additional ground contacting elements can be attached by pivot connections to the primary ground contacting element, and additional stiffening elements can be attached to such additional ground contacting elements to rigidly connect them to the pole contacting element.
In another aspect, an anchored flexible line, such as a cable or a chain, can be vertically suspended from the articulated frame and attached to the pole to be supported to help prevent sliding movement between the pole and the pole contacting element.